“We need to work together, as I see it, as a group, in a world that’s increasingly uncertain...through education and tourism, these are the cornerstones of the ASEAN-New Zealand Partnership and ties. The people-to-people links are paramount because you build familiarity and understanding with each other, and then you talk about the possibilities of what you can do beyond that.

“If you don’t have a relationship and get to understand each other through those people-to-people links, whether it be through education or tourism, what you find is flows of trade and capital information flowing off the back of that,” he said in an exclusive interview with BERNAMA TV today.

Luxon noted that New Zealand has long maintained close education partnerships with ASEAN countries, particularly Malaysia, dating back to the Colombo Plan era, which has since grown significantly, with ASEAN countries forming a large share of New Zealand’s international education community.

“We continue to offer a huge number of scholarships to New Zealand universities to help with capacity building and sharing of expertise as well. I want to see continued growth in education, in particular.

“Tourism is also a secondary focus for people-to-people links where you actually get to experience a country,” he said, adding that an increasing number of New Zealanders have recently been discovering Malaysia as a destination.

Touching on regional stability, Luxon said New Zealand continues to deepen its defence and security ties within the region, particularly through the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) involving Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

He said New Zealand has laid out a 15-year plan to upgrade its defence and security focus, with NZD12 billion to be spent in the next four years alone and is aiming to work and partner with other ASEAN countries.

Luxon said that cooperation is not confined to the military domain, as climate change remains a global challenge that no individual country can tackle alone, and both New Zealand and ASEAN have a role to play.

With New Zealand’s experience and technical expertise in renewable energy, including hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal power, he said the country is ready to help ASEAN countries transition toward cleaner and more sustainable energy systems.

“I think New Zealand can offer a lot with respect to renewable energy and how that is rolled out throughout the region, sharing our knowledge around hydro, our knowledge around solar and wind and certainly geothermal energy.

“We need to collaborate on, particularly around how we may mitigate natural disasters, how we have crisis response, emergency management and those kinds of things as well,” he said.

On a lighter note, Luxon also shared his fondness for Malaysia’s unique cuisine, revealing that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had introduced him to durian during their previous meeting.

“The durian, I quite like it. It’s very good, you’ve got amazing food, incredible hospitality, great people, and great energy and fun. So, I look forward to getting back there shortly,” Luxon said.

-- BERNAMA